


Adviser and Friend

by TheMatraPseudoBiblica



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types
Genre: Advisor, Friendship, No Slash, Promotion, not a hermaphrodite uni
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2706260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMatraPseudoBiblica/pseuds/TheMatraPseudoBiblica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a really short fic concerning Thrawn's promotion and the Emperor's difficulty in doing so. Note: THis is not slash, pre-slash, or anything of the kind. Just a friendship between the two most powerful men in the galaxy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adviser and Friend

Senior Captain Thrawn knelt before the Emperor.

“Do you swear to uphold the principles of the Empire?”

“I do.”

“Do you vow to commit your life to the defense of any Imperial citizens, wherever they may be?”

“I do.”

“Do you give your loyalties to the peoples of the Empire who depend on you?”

“I do.”

“Do you swear unshaken loyalty to your Empire and Emperor?”

“I do.”

“Then rise, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and come before me.”

Thrawn stood and walked the extra meter between himself and the Emperor. There was a small case on the Emperor’s lap and Thrawn watched as grey fingers opened it. Thrawn did not flinch as his red eyes met the Emperor’s yellow ones. There was a brief moment of hesitation as the Emperor raised his arms, but it passed and the new rank bars were secured firmly on Thrawn’s breast.

Thrawn backed down from the throne and straightened to attention.

The Emperor remained silent for a long moment and then waved a negligent hand. “Leave us.”

The Red Guard exited slowly and Thrawn was alone with the Emperor. Silence fell.

The Emperor spoke, “Lend me your arm.”

Thrawn came forward and extended one hand. The Emperor was heavier than one would expect as he pulled himself up.

“Walk with me.” The Emperor summoned his black cane and led Thrawn out and down a set of stairs. A very long set of stairs.

Thrawn’s feet were beginning to hurt by the time he reached the bottom and they emerged into a sunlit park.

Younglings surrounded them as they stepped out into the sunlight. Amazingly, the children did not appear to notice them and continued their play as if nothing had happened.

“I have blinded their eyes. They cannot see or hear us.”

Thrawn dodged a pair of young males playing tag. “I can see some definite cons to this situation.”

The Emperor might have smiled. “Come, my young Admiral.”

The Emperor led Thrawn on a long trek across the park. Through a series of fountains that geysered at seemingly random intervals, across a battlefield of young mudslingers, and into a sandpit they walked. Thrawn did his best, but his best dress uniform attracted more and more dirt and stains. While his young follower struggled, the Emperor did not appear to take a single hit.

When they had completely crossed the park, the Emperor began to cautiously make his way down a steep incline. Thrawn was preoccupied with attempting to clean the mud and sand off of his new, ornate rank bars and didn’t notice. At least, he didn’t notice until the world turned topsy-turvy and he went tumbling down the slope, knocking the Emperor over as he went.

Mercifully, Thrawn ended up on the bottom of the pile at the bottom of the hill. The Emperor got up slowly and then tapped the young Admiral with his cane. “The ground is no place for one of my Grand Admirals.”

Thrawn got up very slowly and liquid trickled down over his lip. His nose was bleeding.

The Emperor, seeming no worse for the wear, pulled out a scarlet handkerchief and handed it to Thrawn. “Stop the bleeding. Pinch hard.”

Thrawn did as he was bade and then took stock of himself. His best uniform, his new uniform, was an unsalvageable mess. He had intended to keep this uniform as a memento of the day: To display it in a case when he wasn’t wearing it, but those plans were spoiled. Displaying this uniform as it was would be a mockery of his new rank and the Empire he served.

His rank! There it lay on the ground. Broken cleanly in half. It must have been crushed as he fell. Thrawn stooped and picked it up. Two rows of pips. Three blue followed by three gold on the top row, three blue followed by three red on the bottom row. His new status and position: Absolutely irreparable. For the first time, Thrawn found himself reluctant to meet the Emperor’s gaze.

“Give me that.”

Thrawn handed the rank bars to the Emperor with the slow hesitation of a guilty child.

“What are these, Thrawn?”

Thrawn. Not ‘my young Admiral’ but spoken with no less affection. “My rank bars, sir. Dress rank bars.”

“What do they mean to you, Thrawn? To you specifically.”

“Achievement, sir. Pride of position. Respect.”

“Achievement, Pride, Respect. Tell me, Thrawn, why do these mean do much to you?”

“Because I earned them.”

“There are twelve others who wear these bars, Thrawn. Twelve other badges exactly like these. Half of those men don’t hold a candle to you. The rest are mere journeymen to your mastery. Why place such pride in your membership to a group of your inferiors?”

When it was put that way… “I don’t know, sir.”

The Emperor closed his fist around the broken rank and crushed it to shimmering powder. Thrawn swallowed his protest.

The Emperor considered the young man in front of him. “I have always had difficulty promoting you. Not merely because it is difficult to explain to others in the Fleet, but because there does not seem to be a position with enough power and honor to be fitting. You are the best officer in the Fleet, and I want to designate you as such.”

Thrawn lifted his head slightly.

“To do so, I needed to create an entirely new rank. Not one that could be too different, but different enough to set you apart. Make no mistake, Thrawn, you are in a class by yourself. I have already admitted that you are the only man alive with the right to question me. Not even Darth Vader can claim that. I needed a way to signify that without being entirely obvious. For your own protection, nobody but myself and my guard will know of your promotion or your true position.

“You will not find the difference to be a large one. Indeed, the name of your official rank will not change. You are still a Grand Admiral.” The Emperor produced a second case from inside his robe. “These are your true rank bars, though you will have the others as well.”

The new rank bars were very different from the old ones. Indeed, by comparison, the old bars were dim parodies. There were still two rows of six pips, but the pips were not simple plastic chips, but perfectly cut gems: Six blue diamonds, three rubies, and three golden topaz. The gold filigree was much more ornate and appeared to be real, solid metal instead of mere painted plastic.

“As these rank bars suggest, your duties will be much more difficult than those of an ordinary Grand Admiral. I need you to go over my plans and strategies and tell me, without fear of offense or bodily harm, exactly what you think of them. You are my chief adviser, and perhaps my friend. Are you up to that task?”

There was challenge in the ancient eyes and Thrawn responded to that challenge. “Yes, I am, your Imperial Highness.”

“Then dispense with the formalities, Thrawn, and pin on those bars.”

Thrawn hesitated to put such beautiful bars on such a filthy uniform, but when he went to obey the Emperor’s order, that distinguished person gave him a rap with his cane. “What did I just say about questioning me?”

Thrawn gave the Emperor a confused look and then a small smile spread across his face. “Emperor, putting these bars on a uniform as filthy and wrecked as this one would be an insult not only to the rank, but to you as well. You have chosen to honor me with them and I would not dishonor you by doing such a thing.”

“You are catching on. Now, you should be presentable enough to wear them.”

Thrawn looked down at himself and noticed that something had happened. A once irreparable uniform was completely remade so that it looked brand new. With pride, he pinned on the bars and straightened to attention. The Emperor smiled and began walking around the children’s play area and towards the staircase they had descended. “That is no longer an ordinary uniform. I expect you to treasure it and not to allow it to pass out of your possession for any reason. So long as you wear those pips and that dress uniform, you are more than a mere Grand Admiral: You are impeccable and invincible. A prime example of what it means to serve the Empire.”

“Thank you, Emperor.”

“I have a name: Use it.”

“Sidious?” Thrawn asked, invoking the name he had known the Emperor by before.

“Palpatine.”

“Very well, Palpatine.” Thrawn climbed the stairs behind the Emperor. “May I ask a question concerning your recent plans?”

“Do you have to ask?”

Thrawn became Palpatine’s chief adviser and the only person that the Emperor could call his friend. Throughout the remainder of the Emperor’s reign, he was the only one who knew the deepest workings of the Emperor’s plans. It was no surprise that the Emperor told Thrawn that he intended for the Chiss to succeed him.

Seven years after his secret promotion, four after the Emperor’s death, Thrawn returned to the heart of the galaxy.

“All systems are go, Admiral.”

“Excellent. Attack when ready.” The Admiral polished the special rank bars with his thumb as he thought back to that day so long ago.

It was a good day to reclaim old properties.


End file.
